Dayo Bejide: New Wisdom Through Music

Nature’s Cry, the opening rendition, set the tone for the rest of the group’s performance. In a sense, it could be read as an invocation to nature – the natural sounds conjured in the music – and the natural material – calabash, bamboo, seeds – out of which the organic instruments were fashioned.

It was a sound that sent us back to roots, a pristine sound that invoked all of nature under a night sky surrounded by all the modern amenities of Fiesta Plaza.

Rainstick, calabash owls and calabash birds invoked the spirit and the sounds of the forest.

It was an appropriate start to a set that would take the audience on a journey that combined nature and technology, a seamless and harmonic merging of two sides of our modern lives that are sometimes at war with each other, sides of our lives that we are constantly struggling to harmonise.

“The music is not just about music. It’s the story of the African people and it’s about environmental awareness as well,” says Baba Onilu, one of the leaders of the band.

He and his brother Modupe Onilu are carrying out the legacy of their late father Jajah Oga Onilu, a man who was respected among the music community for his spirituality and his musical innovations.

Today, his sons move with the times without losing the philosophy underlying the music – the knowledge of self and a rootedness in their own ethnic and spiritual traditions.

In the world of the Internet and social media, many get lost in the vast supply of available information while some use it to their advantage. As Baba notes, the music is also about creating “new wisdom.” It’s an important point.

No longer is wisdom dispensed only from books. And no longer is it set in stone.

Social media and Google searches could bring up any number of motivational ideas and images.

We can now take from these, the data that we need to enhance ourselves. Constantly refreshing the store of wisdom that will aid our earthly travels.

Dayo Bejide’s music is based on this ideal. Combining their legacy of organic music with more modern sounds, Modupe and Baba now bring together the sound of a modern generation – a combination of jazz, rapso, metal, and the organic.

Vocalist John John, with his mesmerising and intriguing song Freedom, an item that combined metal and rapso, joined the group onstage. The heavy guitar of John Hussain combined with the African drums merged as if they belonged together.

“The idea of bringing in other musicians and vocalists was to give the music some variety. We are an instrumental band and while we are Afro- centric we are also creating music that everyone will appreciate,” Baba says.

The goal is not lost.

The originals like Behind the Bridge, a rhythmic number, and Empowerment followed by an Ella Andall cover Black Woman, rendered by Patrice Inglesbert; the Fela Kuti medley comprising Shakara, Water Get No Enemy and Zombie with accompanying vocals by John John and Ingelsbert, provided a truly captivating experience.

The instrumentation, comprising keyboard (Kadeem Alleyne), flute (Mark Brewster), saxophone (Daniel Ryan), electric guitar (John Hussain), bass guitar (Clint Harewood) and organic instruments (Baba and Modupe Onilu), was in no small measure, a perfect harmony of musical colours.

The group is certainly on its way to creating a sound that can stand firm on the national and international circuits.

Dayo Bejide will perform at Freedom.

com - the legacy of Lancelot Layne in commemoration of Emancipation on August 31 at Big Black Box, 33 Murray Street, Woodbrook, Port of Spain.

The show features new music from 3canal & cut + clear crew, Freetown Collective and Dayo Bejide.

Gates open at 8 pm.

See Freedom.com on Facebook for more details.